The two policemen inquired how to find her, then the agent Finocchi added: “Hence, the suspect could be one of relatives, although such assumption could seem very improbable. Right?”
After such declaration, the agent crossed with the eyes of Zamagni and the dead boy‘s mother.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody”, said immediately Marco Finocchi, “It’s only that I wanna exclude nothing, therefore we need to take also this version into consideration.”
“As regards to what I’ve stated previously, what can you tell us about your husband?”, asked Zamagni.
“He hasn’t been with us for some years”, replied back Marisa Lavezzoli, “I don’t quite remember how many years exactly have been passed. Do you really think that he is the murderer?”
“As we said earlier, at least for now we’re trying to consider everything with no exception”, emphasized the inspector. “Does your husband have the keys of this apartment? ”
“No”, responded the woman, “He never had the keys. He wasn’t with us when I and my son Marco moved to our current apartment.”
“That’s clear enough”, nodded Zamagni, “Do you have any idea why he ran away?”
“I can explain it with his inability to cope with the present situation.”
“In what sense?”, asked Marco Finocchi.
“To my opinion, he couldn’t bear the health condition of our own son.”
Both policemen nodded.
“Now I feel very exhausted”, said the lady, after a moment of silence, “If you don’t mind, I would like to have a rest.”
“We’re gonna leave very soon”, replied Zamagni. “Do you have any idea how to get in touch with your husband, madam?”
“No I don’t, sorry.”
After saying the last words, Marisa Lavezzoli kindly asked both policemen to leave the apartment.
Taking the chance of being still inside the building, Zamagni and Finocchi decided to talk to other neighbors in order to gather some information, confirmation or denial, in regards with the hemiplegic boy and his family.
They firstly knocked in the doors next to the apartment in which the boy was found murdered, but nobody responded, therefore went upstairs on the upper floor.
“Hello, can we take your time shortly?”, asked Zamagni, meanwhile an elderly woman wanted to know who was knocking in the door. “It won’t take much time. We’ll finish very quickly with you.”
Through the half opened door, the inspector showed the police identification card and in turn, the woman let them in.
“What’s up?”
“We’d like to talk to you for a while on something happened a few days ago”, said Zamagni. “On the first floor, to be very precise.”
“I have no idea on what you’re talking about, however I will help you, if I might be useful.”
“Do you recognize Mezzogori family?”
“I merely know the mother is living only with her son in that apartment”, replied the woman, “I’ve never seen the father.”
“The son was found dead one day ago”, explained the inspector, without mincing words.
“Oh, what a pity!”, cried out the woman, expressing sadness in her face, “This is the reason why I saw the medical emergency team through the peephole. I heard some noises, therefore I saw through the peephole those who were walking up and down the stairs. But how did it happen?”
“We don’t know exactly, therefore we’re searching for information that may lead us to the right path in our inquiry”, replied Marco Finocchi, “Have you ever seen or heard anything that drew your attention? I mean, besides the fact you just mentioned, the medical emergency team that you saw through the peephole.”
“I am very sorry that I can’t help you further, but recently I don’t usually go out. You know, I am at an age that better not to undertake such risks.”
Zamagni nodded, then asked the old lady if she could be able to provide some other information on the family, any sort of information that could help them to come out of the darkness wrapped around the whole investigation.
“Unfortunately, I can’t say much to you”, she declared, “I know that the mother was taking care of her son all the time and I think there was also another person... a nurse, maybe? ... Or a doctor?... who used to come to their apartment day by day. Don’t know what she was doing exactly but I think she used to provide assistance to the son. He was suffering from a kind of paralysis.”
“Anyway, I thank you a lot for welcoming us”, said the inspector, “We apologize for bothering and taking your time.”
“Nevermind. No need to worry at all. I would like to offer my help, though only for a little. I really hope to have been useful to you.”
“Although your statements aren’t new facts to us, again we’ve confirmed those we already knew”, admitted Zamagni. “We’d be very grateful if you’d let us know if something else comes to your mind, or if occurs to hear or see any kind of fact or information that draws your attention.”
“For sure I’ll do it, with great pleasure”, said the old lady, saluting both policemen.
The inspector gave his business card, then both of them said goodbye to her and left the apartment with the intention to contact other neighbors inside the building. They soon realized that only elderly people were living in that building, who all confirmed, more or less, what they already knew.
In fact, none of them had ever seen the father of hemiplegic boy, however such information did mean nothing, and as far as appeared, even the family didn’t have any dispute or claims against them, besides the disability problem of Marco Mezzogori and the economic hardships. The poor economic situation was a normal conclusion drawn by Zamagni and Finocchi who explained this with the fact that both mother and her son used to live in a building owned by the Municipality of San Lazzaro of Savena, at an estimated low price.
During the time spent there, both policemen had been able to talk to the majority of neighbors, besides those ones living at the same floor with Marisa Lavezzoli, but, in all cases they’d have enough time to go back there considering the long time the investigation would take.
Once getting in the car, the inspector Zamagni informed the captain about the confirmation enabled by some neighbors in the building as well as the interviews to be made as soon as possible with the rest of them, and then informed him about the intention to go and meet the nurse who used to take care of the hemiplegic boy, and lastly, they’d get back to work after completion of all the above tasks.
“All right”, agreed Giorgio Luzzi, “Meanwhile, I’m letting you know that the father is not trackable yet.”
Since the day the tragedy has been happened, Miss Daniela Rossi waited for the police to come and see her in person over the following days, because, other than his close relatives, she was probably the person who perfectly knew Marco Mezzogori.
The lady welcomed Stefano Zamagni dhe Marco Finocchi at her own apartment situated in the street Carlo Sigonio in Bologna and accommodated them in the dining room.
“Would you like to drink something?”, she asked, “Even simply a glass of water or a cup of coffee.”
“I’ll have a cup of water with pleasure, if you don’t mind”, said the inspector, and the agent Finocchi also demanded the same.
Nodding, Miss Rossi left for a while and came back with two bottles of ice water, one natural and one sparkling, and with two glasses, served in a tray. “I have also water at normal